Marketing Pilgrim Gets The P&G/FB Story Right
Anyone following the social media industry, or this blog, has probably noticed the NYT article covering P&G’s foray into social media advertising on Facebook. The article all but calls it an outright failure.
Others piled on, often referencing Ted McConnell’s offhand remarks against advertising on Facebook.
What the critics miss is that this process of figuring out advertising in social media is iterative and experimental. There is simply too much at stake for brands to not get involved in figuring out social media. Attention is valuable and it’s rapidly shifting from TV to the internet. It’s the reason P&G continues to support efforts like their Social Media Lab. Along the way we’ll have our share of home runs and miss-fires.
This is why Marketing Pilgrim get’s the story right. It’s not that advertising doesn’t work in social media, it’s that P&G wasn’t advertising the right way. There was no real motivation for joining a fan club about Crest Whitestrips and even less motivation for creating a video about Tide detergent. Even on a video site like YouTube, only a small sliver of the audience participates (usually follows a 1% rule).
What the campaign needs to do is make Crest and Tide part of the social experience, not the center of it. They could have launched an integrated campaign tapping into gifting apps (send a smile) or sponsored Doctors Without Borders to help with dental hygiene. Brands have to add to the conversation, not demand to be at the center of it.
Tags: advertisers
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